User Reviews of Peacefood Café (Upper West Side)

Averaged user ratings:

Great food, great atmosphere, great service. I've gone twice and both times everything was great. The first time I was alone and sat at the counter. The workers there were very friendly. The second time was with a non-vegan and she loved it. All the food is very good but the desserts are the best part. There is a large selection and be prepared to share even if the portion size looks small (they are rich and tasty treats). I look forward to going back there soon.

This is probably my favorite place for lunch in UWS. Peace Food has a great menu and impressive specials. The nicely decorated place is always crowded with healthy-good looking people. The owner is extremely pleasant and compassionate.

Like the poster Simone on here, I also live in the neighborhood (just moved in actually) and am a vegetarian, so I wanted to support this place. Like her, I had a bad experience with the owner over a substitution. In my case, it was my second time there...first time both my bf and I found the food and service to be merely adequately, but as always eager to support vegan establishments left with only enthusiasm for future visits. Second time there, however (two days later), there was an item on the menu that included a side dish composed of elements that I cannot/ will not eat (sesame noodles). I asked my server for these to be substituted with any other vegetable or simple salad, which she was tentative about but ultimately agreed to. Out from the kitchen stormed the owner, screaming to the server and her colleague "No Substitutions! Blah etc!" Unknown to him, I was seated at the counter and was therefore directly in front of this outburst. Dismayed by both the way he treated his staff and his adamant position about substitutions, I loudly said "It's okay, I'll just go to Blossom," and left. I mean really...as a lifelong vegetarian (since I was 11 years old and I am now 33), I must admit that I/ we can be a fairly specific crowd when it comes to food. Reasonable substitutions should be more than allowed...this is not Per Se quality food or chef magic, after all. Many of the best vegetarian/ vegan restaurants actually structure their menus/ ordering around flexibility...Souen is a great example of this. Sadly, though I live only a block away and there is only 1 other vegan restaurant in the neighborhood, I will NOT go back. Ever. The end.

I went to the Peace Food Cafe for New Years with seven friends. I had the tahini sprout sandwich and my husband had the seitan medallions. Both were very yummy. The prices were ultra reasonable. It's nice to know I can get a great vegan meal for under 10 bucks in nyc. The atmosphere is fresh and welcoming with beautiful wall decor. The menu had great variety. We will definitely be going again.

Tried this place for the first time a couple of weeks ago. I tried the chickpea fries and seitan medallion panini. The chickpea fries were divine! The panini was huge and could easily be split between two people. I found it to be a little heavy between the fried medallion and the generous helping of nut cheese, though. Perhaps next time I will go for the roasted veggie panini instead.
I also took a blondie to go, which was delicious.

The place is clean, bright and pretty: very inviting, due in no small part to the baked goodies when you walk in that all look delectable. It is obvious that the place is already busy and popular; the staff is constantly buzzing around: juicing, chatting with customers, bringing out fresh platters of scones & cookies,etc.

My only complaint is that they seem a little disjointed. Some employees were completely welcoming, friendly, and in command, while others seemed a bit meek and not ready for the crowd. Meek is not good when it leads to an impatient woman grabbing her own scone from the covered platter (gross) when the staff is so careful to always use tongs and/or wax paper (especially when I wanted that same flavor scone and then had to fear being contaminated with rude cooties).

Overall wonderful place & I hope they continue to improve and succeed. One questions though, why are the fresh scones warmed to a rubbery consistency? Tip: they are delicious as is!

Oh, one more thing: BEST macaroon I've had in years. Had to take six to go. Eat them.

I have been to Peacefood Cafe on many occasions and experienced excellent service, a clean and welcoming atmosphere, and very good food. My interactions with the owner, Eric, have always been very pleasant. Overall, in my experience Peacefood has lived up to the intentions that Eric stated to me upon meeting: healthy, ethical, and tasty food carefully prepared and served.

It's difficult to assess the previous reviewer's friend's specific situation, since few details were provided. However, as a vegan, on the rare occasion I forget to make sure that something I can't eat isn't in the menu item I've ordered, I blame my own failure to ask a question, and not the restaurant's failure to list every single ingredient on its menu. The reviewer rated this place poorly on all three counts, but her complaint has only to do with service in an unusual and uncertain situation, so it doesn't seem like a very honest evaluation.

I live in the neighborhood and wanted to patronize this community business, but from my experience, this cafe does not care about its customers nor the food they serve, which is quite the opposite from its message. A friend I took there tried to exchange an item on the menu due to an ingredient she could not eat and it was not listed on the menu. She politely exchanged the item for something else but the owner himself demanded and argued that she should pay for the food she could not eat. He argued with us for 15 minutes while I had thoughts of calling the police or at least throwing up that food. There are plenty of great vegan restaurants in NYC, no need to go here.

please, do yourself a favor and get a meal (or ten) here. it is lovely, bright, healthy, fresh, friendly, perfect portions, and vegan.

the owner, Eric, is one of the most delightful people you will meet on the uws. his menu is thoughtful, but more important, delicious.

the specials are fabulous, particularly the daily soups and vegetables. also, they have a tasty breakfast with quinoa porridge,steel cut oatmeal, tofu scramble, baked hash browns and many many baked goods. and many coffee choices as well, including agave as the sweetener.

so far my two favorites are the tempeh salad (Asian greens salad) an the snowball dessert. my boyfriend (non-vegan) loves the place as much as I do (I am vegan), and he thinks the dumplings are some of the best he's ever had.

we are total foodies and frequent candle, pure, blossom, gobo, tabla/bread bar and others. peace cafe stands tall alongside the so-called strongest vegan and non-veg restaurants in the city.

good things to know as well: peace is very wheat-free friendly with spelt bread and cookies. also raw-friendly, including desserts. most dishes are not oily, the flavors are fresh but you can get a few delish fried things if that's how you roll. tons of baked goods an raw juices too...all vegan, no refined sugar.

so please, do your body and taste buds a favor and skip blossom (a block away, more expensive, and a heck of a lot more greasy) and go to peace food.

paninis are fantastic.. sandwiches could be larger (or come with more on the side?).. desserts vary between unbelievably amazing and so-so (i'm not one for lemon in tira misu?). the smoothies are also very good.
the space is great. as someone else said, the acoustics are not great. from experience, i'd recommend sitting in the front by the windows.
overall, there's a great energy about the place. happy to have a (new) health food / vegan place on the upper west die.

Atmosphere is nice--bright, airy and spacious, although the acoustics are strangely bad (it gets very loud in there with not that many people).
As far as the food goes, we weren't thrilled with anything we tried and definitely wouldn't order those things again (chickpea fries, grilled veg pizza, seitan medallion panini, key lime pie. even the mini-brownie was somehow not right).
But, despite this less than stellar first impression, there are some other things on the menu that look potentially promising. I also think this would be a great place to go just for coffee/tea and pastries and hang out or work. They have free wifi.
Overall, I wouldn't go just for the food since Cafe Blossom is better, equally-priced, and just a block away, but I am happy another all-vegan restaurant has opened in the neighborhood.

As a first time visitor, I was impressed with my lunch at Peacefood Cafe. It's a bright, airy, and attractive place, and was busy when I was there. I had a delicious Green Lemonade fresh juice, the Asian Greens salad, and the homemade dumplings appetizer. Everything tasted fresh and vibrant.
They are newly opened, and the staff seemed a bit overwhelmed at times, but they were very helpful and cheerful. You place your order at the counter, and pick it up and seat yourself. There is a pretty diverse menu here, and an absolutely amazing selection of baked goods & desserts made on the premises. I didn't try any, but they all looked delicious. They still seem to be working out some kinks at Peacefood, as they are newly opened, and not everything on the menu is available, but considering these factors, they are doing an impressive job, AND they are 100% vegan.
There is something for everyone on the menu, everything from super-healthy to fried dishes, in addition to a raw entree & dessert. They also have a selection of pizzas on the menu which look very interesting, but I'm not sure if they're available yet. I was also really happy to see the juice bar menu, as I am a fan of green juices (they also have smoothies).
I highly recommend PeaceFood Cafe, and I know I will be back soon!